"What is hurt?"

A friend today asked me: “What is hurt? Why does someone feel hurt?”

We were all born without any notions and knowledge about various feelings we have today. It was always taught and children even today LEARN that one should feel bad when something goes wrong, that hurt is bad, that pain is not-good. A child is taught to cry when s/he falls down, etc. You may not agree with me, but you have to look at the world with a different lens, without the notions, after unlearning...

Things changed when I came across Falun Dafa, a wonderful cultivation practice for the mind and body. Perspective changed every time I read the Zhuan Falun (http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/zflus.html). I came to understand that pain is not something bad. It’s just the karmic cycle and one has to let go of attachments to not feel hurt.

A short tempered me, an introvert me, a put-the-blame-on-someone-else me, today has changed. Core values for me today are Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. Today, when something happens, when I feel not-so-good, then, it’s time for me to look within and let go of some attachment that is the reason for this hurt of pain.

Let me give an example: I used to feel very offended and embarrassed when someone bullied me or insulted me or scolded me in front of others. I felt like taking revenge. When I looked within, I saw the attachment to self-esteem, I saw ego, I saw an attachment that said I-am-the-best, or I-know-it-all, or who-are-you-to show-me-the-right, etc. I had to let go. And trust me, once the attachment is gone, it makes no difference at all. The smile on my face even when someone is trying to put me down actually surprises everyone these days.

It’s not that I ignore the hurt or overlook the pain, it’s that it doesn’t exist. And once you let go and look back, it will all seem silly.  After all, an eye for an eye will kill the whole world. One has to fundamentally change one’s conventional thinking. Otherwise the truth of the universe will forever remain a mystery and everyday people will forever crawl within the boundaries delimited by their own ignorance. (http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/lecture0.html)